Press Start above and today becomes day 1 of your 75 Soft challenge. Tap each habit as you finish it: the workout, each glass of water, your 10 pages and eating well. When all four are done, the day turns full, confetti flies and your streak grows. If you forgot to log yesterday, tap it on the grid and check it off.
75 Soft challenge rules
These are the four daily rules, as Cleveland Clinic, TODAY and Penn State Health all list them:
- Work out for 45 minutes. Any workout counts, and one day a week is active recovery, such as an easy walk, a swim or stretching.
- Drink 3 liters of water. That is about 101 oz, or six 500 mL (17 oz) glasses.
- Read 10 pages. Any book counts, fiction included.
- Eat well. There is no set diet. Eat mostly nutritious food, and drink alcohol only at social occasions.
The challenge is widely credited to Stephen Gallagher, an Irish fitness creator who posted it on TikTok in 2021 as a gentler take on 75 Hard, according to TODAY. The rules spread by word of mouth, so versions vary: some say 100 oz of water, and some say nonfiction only. This tracker uses the four rules above. If you miss a day, you keep going, as Cleveland Clinic and TODAY both note.
Here is what the four rules add up to over a week and over the whole challenge:
| Rule | Every day | Each week | All 75 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workout | 45 minutes | 6 workouts (270 minutes) and 1 active recovery day | 64 workouts (2,880 minutes, or 48 hours) and 11 active recovery days |
| Water | 3 L (101 oz) | 21 L (710 oz) | 225 L (7,608 oz) |
| Reading | 10 pages | 70 pages | 750 pages |
| Eating well | Alcohol only at social occasions | 7 days | 75 days |
How to do the 75 day soft challenge
The tracker above runs the challenge in five steps:
- Pick a start date. Day 1 is the date you pick, today by default. Day 75 falls 74 days later.
- Do the four habits every day. Work out for 45 minutes, drink 3 liters (about 101 oz) of water, read 10 pages of any book, and eat well with alcohol only at social occasions.
- Take one active recovery day a week. On one day in each week of the challenge, an easy walk, a swim or stretching takes the place of the workout.
- Check off each habit. A day turns full when all four are checked. Full days earn a bonus and build your streak.
- Keep going after a missed day. 75 Soft has no restart rule. Pick up again the next day and finish on day 75.
Any workout counts toward the 45 minutes, and you can split it into shorter blocks, such as three 15-minute walks, TODAY reports. For a plan, our free AI workout plan generator builds a full week of sessions. For quick blocks, the 7 minute workout takes exactly 7 minutes and the deck of cards workout runs 5 to 30 minutes, so add a walk to reach 45. Beginners can start shorter and build up to 45 minutes. A clinical exercise physiologist at Penn State Health suggests about 15 minutes, five days a week, for the first four weeks.
75 Soft at a glance: the 11 weeks
Seventy-five days is 10 full weeks plus 5 days. Each week of the challenge allows one active recovery day, so a week with every day full looks like this:
| Week | Days | Workouts | Water | Reading | Badge if every day is full |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 1 to 7 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | First full day on day 1, one full week at 7 full days |
| Week 2 | 8 to 14 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | |
| Week 3 | 15 to 21 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | Three full weeks at 21 full days |
| Week 4 | 22 to 28 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | |
| Week 5 | 29 to 35 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | |
| Week 6 | 36 to 42 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | |
| Week 7 | 43 to 49 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | |
| Week 8 | 50 to 56 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | 50 full days at day 50 |
| Week 9 | 57 to 63 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | |
| Week 10 | 64 to 70 | 6 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 21 L (710 oz) | 70 pages | |
| Week 11 | 71 to 75 | 4 x 45 min and 1 active recovery day | 15 L (507 oz) | 50 pages | All 75 days full, and the finish on day 75 |
| All 11 weeks | 1 to 75 | 64 x 45 min (2,880 min) and 11 active recovery days | 225 L (7,608 oz) | 750 pages | 5 badges |
Badges count full days, so a missed day moves the next badge back by a day. Your first full day earns the first badge. The challenge itself ends on day 75 whether or not every day was full, because 75 Soft has no restart rule.
Fill your daily 45 minutes with workouts customized to you in detailed 3D
The FitCraft app builds workouts around your goals, shows every move with a 3D AI coach and adjusts as you progress. Earn XP, keep your streak and track your days on a calendar.
Take the Free Assessment Free • 2 minutes • No credit card75 Soft vs 75 Hard
75 Hard came first. Andy Frisella launched it in 2019, and its website calls it a mental toughness program, according to Penn State Health. 75 Soft keeps the 75 days and the 10 pages and eases the rest. The rules below come from TODAY:
| Rule | 75 Soft | 75 Hard |
|---|---|---|
| Workouts | One 45-minute workout a day, with one active recovery day a week | Two 45-minute workouts a day, one of them outdoors |
| Water | 3 liters (about 101 oz) | 1 gallon (about 3.8 liters, 128 oz) |
| Diet | Eat well, with alcohol only at social occasions | A diet of your choice, with no alcohol and no cheat meals |
| Reading | 10 pages of any book | 10 pages of a nonfiction book |
| Progress photo | None | Every day |
| Missed day | Keep going | Start over at day 1 |
The restart rule is the biggest difference. In 75 Hard, one missed task sends you back to day 1. In 75 Soft, a missed day stays missed and you still finish on day 75. The Penn State Health physiologist called 75 Hard very stringent and said most people won't want to stick with it. The same physiologist advised never training more than six days a week, which matches the weekly recovery day in 75 Soft.
Does the 75 Soft challenge work?
No study has tested 75 Soft or 75 Hard. The research does cover each piece of the challenge:
- The exercise dose. Six 45-minute workouts make 270 minutes a week. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (Piercy et al. 2018) ask adults for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening activity on 2 or more days. 75 Soft lands near the top of that range. Make at least 2 of the workouts strength training to cover the rest.
- The 75 days. In Lally et al. 2010, 96 adults each picked one new daily behavior. The median time to reach peak automaticity was 66 days, with a range of 18 to 254 days, and missing a single day did not materially change the process. A 2024 review of 20 studies and 2,601 people found medians of 59 to 66 days (Singh et al. 2024). Seventy-five days covers the typical case, but not everyone.
- Tracking it. A meta-analysis of 138 trials and 19,951 people found that monitoring progress toward a goal helped people reach it, with an effect size of d = 0.40 (Harkin et al. 2016). The effect was larger when the progress was physically recorded or reported to others. Checking off each habit is that kind of monitoring.
- Making it a game. A meta-analysis of 16 randomized trials and 2,407 people found that gamified programs raised physical activity, with a small to medium effect, Hedges g = 0.42 (Mazeas et al. 2022). The XP and streaks in this tracker borrow that idea. No trial has tested this tracker.
- The water. The official Adequate Intakes for total water from food and drinks are 2.0 to 2.7 liters a day for women and 2.5 to 3.7 liters for men (EFSA 2010, Institute of Medicine 2005), and drinks supply about 80 percent of it. So 3 liters of water is more than most adults need, which is fine for healthy people who spread it over the day.
Our article on how long it takes to form a habit goes deeper into the 66-day figure, and the streak effect explains why a broken streak feels so bad. For a personal water target, use the water intake calculator.
How much weight will I lose on 75 Soft?
No study has measured weight loss on 75 Soft, and the rules set no calorie target, so the answer depends on what eating well means for you. The exercise helps. An ACSM position stand found that 150 to 250 minutes a week of moderate activity gives only modest weight loss, and it linked more than 250 minutes a week with clinically significant weight loss (Donnelly et al. 2009). The 75 Soft workouts come to about 270 minutes a week. Most of the loss still comes from eating fewer calories than you burn.
For a realistic number, the CDC calls about 1 to 2 pounds a week a gradual, steady pace, and says people who lose weight at that pace are more likely to keep it off. Over 75 days, which is about 10.7 weeks, that comes to roughly 11 to 21 pounds.
Can you lose 20 pounds in 75 days?
It is possible, but it sits at the fast end. Losing 20 pounds in 10.7 weeks takes close to 2 pounds every week, the top of the CDC's steady range, and it is more realistic for people with more weight to lose. Our guide on how to lose 20 pounds lays out the calorie math, and the weight loss percentage calculator checks your pace against 0.5 to 1 percent of body weight a week.
Free printable 75 Soft checklist
If you prefer paper, press Print checklist in the tracker or Print a paper checklist before you start. It prints a one-page 75 Soft checklist with 75 numbered days and a box for each habit. If you set a start date, the dates are filled in, and days you have already checked off print as ticked. Pin it to the fridge and tick the boxes with a pen, or use both and fill in the tracker at the end of the day.
Who should check with a doctor first
75 Soft is built for healthy adults. Adjust it, or talk to a professional first, in these situations:
- New to exercise or coming back after a long break. Start with shorter workouts and build up to 45 minutes. Walking counts.
- Heart disease, high blood pressure or another health condition. Ask your doctor before starting daily workouts.
- A condition that limits fluids, such as heart failure or kidney disease. Ask your doctor before drinking 3 liters a day.
- Pregnancy and the months after birth. Follow your care team on exercise and fluids.
- A history of disordered eating. A daily food check-off can feed rigid rules. Leave that habit out or set it with your care team.
Stop a workout if you feel chest pain, dizziness or sharp joint pain. If you get sick or hurt, rest. 75 Soft lets you pick up again the next day, and our guide on what to do when you miss a workout covers getting back on track.
Related reading
References
- Cleveland Clinic. "The 75 Soft Challenge: When 75 Hard Is Too Much." Health Essentials. November 13, 2023. health.clevelandclinic.org/75-soft-challenge
- Pawlowski A. "What is the 75 Soft Challenge? How to do the gentler version of 75 Hard." TODAY. Updated January 30, 2025. today.com
- Penn State Health News. "The Medical Minute: 75 Hard, 75 Soft and how to keep your fitness resolutions." January 10, 2024. pennstatehealthnews.org
- Lally P, van Jaarsveld CHM, Potts HWW, Wardle J. "How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world." European Journal of Social Psychology. 2010;40(6):998-1009. doi:10.1002/ejsp.674
- Singh B, Murphy A, Maher C, Smith AE. "Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants." Healthcare (Basel). 2024;12(23):2488. doi:10.3390/healthcare12232488
- Harkin B, Webb TL, Chang BP, et al. "Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence." Psychological Bulletin. 2016;142(2):198-229. PMID 26479070
- Mazeas A, Duclos M, Pereira B, Chalabaev A. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Gamification on Physical Activity: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials." Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2022;24(1):e26779. doi:10.2196/26779
- Piercy KL, Troiano RP, Ballard RM, et al. "The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans." JAMA. 2018;320(19):2020-2028. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.14854
- Donnelly JE, Blair SN, Jakicic JM, et al. "Appropriate physical activity intervention strategies for weight loss and prevention of weight regain for adults." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2009;41(2):459-471. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181949333
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies. "Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for water." EFSA Journal. 2010;8(3):1459. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1459
- Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. National Academies Press; 2005. doi:10.17226/10925
- Maughan RJ, Watson P, Cordery PA, et al. "A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2016;103(3):717-723. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.114769
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Losing Weight." cdc.gov
How this tracker differs from typical 75 Soft trackers
Most 75 Soft trackers are printable PDFs, spreadsheet templates or checklists in a notes app. You tick a box, and the counting is up to you. This one counts for you. It knows which of the 75 days you are on from your start date, counts water glass by glass in liters and ounces, and allows exactly one active recovery day in each week of the challenge.
It keeps your streak, full days, XP, badges and player level on your device, with no signup. It follows the 75 Soft rule that a missed day does not restart the challenge: the missed day stays on the grid, your streak starts again, and you still finish on day 75. When you want paper, it prints the same 75 days as a one-page checklist. It also says plainly that no study has tested 75 Soft itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 75 Soft challenge rules?
Every day for 75 days, do one 45-minute workout, with one active recovery day a week. Drink 3 liters of water, about 101 oz. Read 10 pages of any book. Eat well, and drink alcohol only at social occasions. Cleveland Clinic, TODAY and Penn State Health list the same four rules.
What workouts count for 75 Soft?
Any workout of 45 minutes counts: walking, running, strength training, yoga or a class. You can split it, for example into three 15-minute walks. On the one active recovery day each week, an easy walk, a swim or stretching takes its place. 75 Hard asks for two 45-minute workouts a day, one of them outdoors.
Can you drink coffee on 75 Soft?
Yes. 75 Soft has no rule against coffee. The water rule is 3 liters of water, so most people count only plain water toward it. Coffee does not dry you out: in a trial of 72 men, a liter of coffee led to no more urine over 4 hours than a liter of water (Maughan et al. 2016).
How much weight will I lose on 75 Soft?
No study has measured it, and the rules set no calorie target, so it depends mostly on eating fewer calories than you burn. At the steady pace of 1 to 2 pounds a week that the CDC describes, 75 days comes to about 11 to 21 pounds. The workouts add up to about 270 minutes a week, and an ACSM position stand links more than 250 minutes a week with clinically significant weight loss (Donnelly et al. 2009).
Can you lose 20 pounds in 75 days?
It is possible, but it sits at the fast end of a safe pace. 75 days is about 10.7 weeks, so 20 pounds takes close to 2 pounds every week, the top of the 1 to 2 pounds a week the CDC calls gradual and steady. A higher starting weight makes it more realistic.
What happens if you miss a day of 75 Soft?
You keep going. 75 Soft has no restart rule, so you pick up again the next day and still finish on day 75. The tracker marks the missed day and starts a new streak. In a study of habit forming, missing one day did not materially slow the habit down (Lally et al. 2010).
What is the difference between 75 Hard and 75 Soft?
75 Hard, created by Andy Frisella in 2019, asks for two 45-minute workouts a day with one outdoors, a gallon of water, a diet with no alcohol or cheat meals, 10 pages of a nonfiction book and a daily progress photo, and a missed day means starting over. 75 Soft asks for one 45-minute workout with a weekly recovery day, 3 liters of water, 10 pages of any book and eating well, with no restart.